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Royal Caribbean Group said a prolonged Middle East conflict had softened demand for its European sailings this summer, trimming yield growth for the back half of 2026.
On the company's second-quarter earnings call Chairman and CEO Jason Liberty said the conflict had "modestly weighed on bookings" for some near-term deployment, with the impact concentrated in the third quarter.
The situation had "persisted longer than anticipated, influencing consumer destination preferences and resulting in more modest yield growth for Europe sailings this summer," he said.
Liberty told Wall Street Analysts that Europe had been "off to an incredible start at the beginning of the year," before geopolitical activity and its effect on fuel curtailed demand."
That's not to say that European yields are down. European yields are still very good for this year, but they are less than what we had expected," he said, adding that the company "would've raised the back half of the year, if not for those activities."
Chief Financial Officer Naftali Holtz said Europe would account for 14 percent of full-year capacity and 28 percent in the third quarter, where the exposure is heaviest.
Demand was still strong, but the group had seen "a modest and near-term impact on 2026 bookings since the last earnings call, primarily due to the prolonged geopolitical activity that is driving our reduced yield outlook for the remainder of the year."
Royal Caribbean continues to invest in the region. The debut of the Legend of the Seas brought the Icon Class to Europe for the first time this year, and the group opened a Royal Beach Club in Santorini as part of its destination expansion.
